South Korea wants to ban dog slaughterhouses and thus put an end to the ancient custom of eating dog meat. The country’s Minister of Agriculture announces that the ban must be implemented as quickly as possible and that affected industries must be compensated. A long-awaited announcement from the animal rights organization Humane Society International.
– A dream come true for all of us who have fought so hard to stop this cruelty.
The ancient tradition of eating dog may soon come to an end in South Korea. This after the ruling People Power Party presented a proposal on Friday, reports Reuters.
“It is time to put an end to social conflicts and controversies surrounding the consumption of dog meat by passing a special law to end it,” Yu Eui-dong, policy director of the ruling People Power Party, said at the meeting attended by government officials and animal rights activists attended.
Agriculture Minister Chung Hwang-keun says that a ban should be implemented quickly and that the government should provide the maximum possible support to those in the dog meat industry so that they can shut down their operations. The proposed ban comes with a three-year deadline for the operations to be phased out in a sustainable way for the people who are financially dependent on the meat slaughter.
“A dream come true”
The Korean tradition has long been criticized for cruel practices, and opposition has grown from both the outside world and South Koreans, especially from the younger generation. But previous anti-dog meat campaigns have failed due to widespread protests from the industry. In the country, there are around 1,150 farms where dogs are raised to become food, over 34 slaughterhouses and around 1,600 restaurants that serve dogs, according to Reuters, which refers to government data,
Today’s announcement was welcomed by animal rights groups who have long worked to end the suffering: “A dream come true for all of us who have fought so hard to end this cruelty,” Humane Society International said in a statement.